Nov 07, 2008  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

Carol Schwartz, the gay-friendly Republican D.C. Council member, lost a final chance to keep her seat Tuesday when her write-in campaign fell short.

Schwartz, who has strongly supported gay rights and AIDS-related issues during her nearly 16 years on the Council, lost her at-large seat to Michael Brown, a gay-friendly Democrat turned independent. Kwame Brown, a Democrat unrelated to Michael Brown, retained the other at-large seat.

Kwame Brown, an incumbent, led with 148,617 votes, more than 47 percent of the ballots cast.
Michael Brown captured 62,023 votes, about 20 percent of the total. All write-in candidates, such as Schwartz, received 34,219 votes, or 11 percent of the ballots cast.

Patrick Mara, the Republican who defeated Schwartz in the primary, took 32,844 votes, a little more than 10 percent of the total.

David Schwartzman, a Statehood-Green candidate, received 15,402 votes, which is nearly 5 percent of the ballots cast. Independent candidate Mark Long took 12,029 votes, or about 4 percent, while independent candidate Dee Hunter captured 5,965 votes, less than 2 percent of the total.

Rick Rosendall, a gay Democrat who endorsed Schwartz and serves as vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, said Schwartz’s loss was “not a surprising result, but it is a disappointing result.”

“It was sad that she couldn’t pull it out,” he said. “Although, she had an uphill battle with having to do a write-in campaign.”

Schwartz was bumped off the ballot after Mara, a former congressional staffer, bested her during the Republican primary contest in September. Mara took about 60 percent of the vote to Schwartz’s 40 percent.

“It’s been a good run and I am glad to have run it,” Schwartz said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Those who stood with me from all political parties and from all walks of life are brave and loving souls, and I am grateful for their support. I congratulate Michael Brown and wish him well.”

Kwame Brown was heavily favored Tuesday to win re-election, leaving Mara, Schwartz and Michael Brown to battle each other for the remaining at-large seat.

“Under the circumstances, I think Carol did quite well,” Rosendall said. “I’m just sorry that it wasn’t enough for her to take second place. Michael had that advantage because he was on the ballot.”

A precinct-by-precinct breakdown of Tuesday’s votes shows that while Kwame Brown won many districts with high concentrations of gay voters, Mara also performed well, often topping Schwartz and Michael Brown.

In Dupont Circle’s 14th precinct, Mara took more than 22 percent of the vote while write-in candidates accounted for about 14 percent and Michael Brown won less than 10 percent of the ballots cast.

And in Dupont Circle’s 15th precinct, Mara took nearly 20 percent of the vote. Write-in candidates received about 15 percent of the vote while Schwartzman won nearly 11 percent and Michael Brown got more than 8 percent of the ballots cast.

The 24th precinct, which includes part of the Adams Morgan neighborhood, awarded all write-in candidates nearly 16 percent of its vote. Mara received more than 14 percent of the precinct’s vote, while Michael Brown captured just shy of 12 percent of the vote.

In the neighborhood’s 25th precinct, Mara won nearly 18 percent of the ballots cast. Write-in candidates accounted for about 17 percent of the vote, while Schwartzman won about 11 percent and Michael Brown took about 9 percent of the ballots cast.

Peter Rosenstein, a gay Democratic activist who supported Mara, said he expected his candidate would do well among gay voters.

“I think that the GLBT community wanted to vote for change,” he said. “They saw Patrick as a young, energetic, bright candidate who was totally comfortable with walking hand-in-hand with the GLBT community on the issues we care about.”

Rosenstein said his Republican candidate fell short overall, though, because so many Democrats voted Tuesday.

“I think what kept him from winning the day was the overwhelming turnout of Democratic voters for Barack Obama,” he said, “and the overwhelming support that Michael Brown got from members of the Council, particularly those east of the river.”

Michael Brown, who switched his party affiliation from Democrat to independent so he could run for the at-large seat, won the endorsement of Kwame Brown and four other Council members.

Rosenstein said Michael Brown, who supports the recognition of same-sex marriage, would make a good addition to the Council.

“I was sorry to see Patrick Mara not elected, but I have a lot of respect for Michael Brown,” Rosenstein said.

Rosendall agreed. He noted that Michael Brown received a 6.5 rating from the GLAA, which awards scores from ranging from –10 to +10 based on answers to its questionnaire.